Alone I Hear Their Voices
by Piper Masters
Summary: Heroes aren't meant to survive. And he was a hero, right?
1. Alone I Hear Their Voices

**HELLO! I return from the dead! So I think Voltron is just awesome and if you've read ANYTHING by me before, you know I like to make people suffer. And Keith is a really cool character. Thus, suffering. This is my first time writing anything Voltron related, and I also wrote this in half an hour after doing math for 5 hours straight, it seems good to me now, but it might actually be terrible, so please review and let me know!**

 **ALSO!**

 **This story ends how you want. If you don't know what that means than read on and find out!**

 **THIS IS BASICALLY ME TAKING MY FEELINGS ABOUT FINALS SEASON OUT ON KEITH OK SO YOU READ THIS AND SURVIVE FINALS TOO OK, OK GOOD!**

 **THANKS! LOVE YOU!**

Heroes were many things. Smart, strong, and probably a little stupid too. But one thing that they _weren't_ was old. Heroes didn't live long happy lives, they lived short high-risk ones.

 _Heroes aren't meant to survive._

It was something Shiro had said once, in a way to comfort Allura after she lost the AI of her father. He mentioned it to the paladins sometimes as well, but no one took him seriously.

However, it was that thought that gave Keith the only comfort he could get as he lay on the ground, alone. He was a hero, a paladin of Voltron at the very least. This was what was meant for him. This was okay.

 _It won't be okay._

Their mission had been _so simple_. No Galra, no fighting, they didn't even take their individual lions; they just all piled into Black.

The planet was dead- empty, hollow, basically a shell. But a thousand years ago the castle had received a distress call as it was dying, the cause unknown. Thus Allura sent the paladins on what Coran referred to as "A field trip! For fun! And research!".

The planet was fragile when they got there. The entire terrain cracked and crumbled as they moved around, parts of the ground breaking off and falling down cliffs or into dark voids. Colorless and cold, it felt like a graveyard. There was no evidence of there ever being any life on the planet, no remains of civilization or residents. It was either a good sign that whoever had sent the distress signal had been able to completely evacuate, or a terrible sign that every sign of life had been eradicated. Whatever it meant, it didn't matter to Lance. He was bored, which never ended well.

"Bet I can make more rubble fall than you." He changed Keith.

"Do you even realize how dangerous that is?"

"Are you scared, Mullet?" Lance taunted. And no, Keith wasn't _scared_. He, unlike some people, had the common sense to know that trying to make rocks fall off a cliff was a bad idea.

"Don't start." Shiro called over his shoulder, hardly paying attention. He was crouching next to Pidge, analyzing the scans she was getting from the planet. Lance huffed and glared at Keith, as if he had started it.

"Hunk, I bet we can make the ground crack just right so it'll look like the shock wave blew you away, like in those superhero pictures." Lance offered.

Hunk laughed. "Please, you're _literally_ lighter than Pidge. You couldn't crack this stuff if you tried."

"Please _don't_ try." Pidge said. "If my scans are right, and let's be real- _they are_ , then we're actually standing above a really big cavern. We should probably move to-"

A loud _CRACK_ cut her off. "God dammit Lance." She cursed.

Lance looked up, a mix of horror and 'I-didn't-mean-to' on his face. His gun was jammed into the ground because OBVIOUSLY the idiot couldn't think about what he was going to do, or listen to the warnings he was receiving.

The ground fell apart almost instantly after that. The only way the team managed to avoid tumbling down into the cavern below was due to their jet packs, because Pidge- glorious, genius, Pidge- had suggested wearing their armor, just in case. That being said, the team still dropped a good 30 feet before snapping into action.

"Why can't you ever think about what you're doing?" Keith yelled at Lance as they avoided the falling debris.

"I didn't mean to!" Lance pouted, shooting a rock.

"You never 'mean to'!"

"What does that mean?"

"LOOK OUT!" Hunk shouted.

In three seconds three things happened. First, Keith looked up and saw a massive boulder barreling towards Lance. Second, Keith looked at Lance, whose reflexes had not kicked in yet, and was still glaring at Keith accusingly. Third, and finally, Keith rushed forward, pushing Lance out of the way, feeling a heavy weight crush his jet pack.

"KEITH!" He heard the shouts as he fell, growing further and fainter, until his head collided with something hard, the sound of shattering glass filled his ears, and Keith blacked out.

(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

Keith wasn't stupid. He wasn't naive. As soon as he opened his eyes, buried under the aftermath of the collapse, he knew he was screwed. That was before he tried to move.

Keith's head spun and he quickly realized why it hurt so bad; his helmet had been utterly destroyed in the fall, the glass of his visor shattering, shards stabbing him in the face. Half of his helmet was gone altogether, and blood was running from under his exposed hair.

Breathing made him cough up blood. Keith couldn't move his right leg. His left arm was pinned under rocks, and every time he tried to shift it, the rock pile he was buried under shuddered like it was about to fall.

 _Heroes aren't meant to survive._

And he was a hero, right? He was here because he pushed Lance out of the way. Imagine if Lance was here. But then, why _wasn't_ Lance here? Why wasn't his team here?

 _I'm dead already. They know better. It's too dangerous for them to be here._

Keith could rationalize all he wanted. It didn't make him feel better. The last thing he had said, the last thing his team would hear him say, would be an argument with Lance. He wouldn't be remembered as the Red paladin, or a friend. His legacy was a moody, argumentative, bratty teen with an attitude problem.

Keith found himself crying in his tomb, each sob aggravating his clearly broken ribs, tears getting caught in the glass shards in his cheeks.

Maybe he wasn't _meant_ to survive. But dammit he _wanted_ to survive. He wanted to keep exploring space, to keep helping his team save the universe. He wanted to help Pidge find Matt, wanted to try more of Hunk's cooking and even go try the garlic knots on Earth that Lance wouldn't shut up about. Keith didn't care if all the questions he had about himself and his past never got answered, he just wanted to be in the castle, arguing, or training, or talking with Red.

Keith didn't want to be alone when he died.

His mind was fuzzy, but somehow he caught and held onto the idea to try his helmet. It was destroyed, sure, but maybe the universe would take pity on a dying teenager and let him talk to his friends. Let him imagine, if only for a moment, that he wasn't alone.

"Lance?" Keith croaked into his comms unit. Static filled his ears. "Shiro?" He tried again. "Pidge, Hunk," Keith coughed violently, biting back a scream of pain. "Anyone? Please? Please..."

Silence would have been better than static. Static reminded him that they were somewhere, that they might be talking back, or to each other, and he just couldn't hear them. Static made sure to remind him just how _cut off_ he was. He could talk all he wanted. His team wouldn't hear him. No one would.

Keith was crying again- from pain, from misery, and from the dirt that kept falling in his eyes. He could feel himself getting more tired, could tell as his vision slowly darkened around him. His brain was moving slowly, thinking less, instead opting for drifting. Not blacking out, just drifting, aware and unaware at the same time.

Keith couldn't move either of his legs now. His brain didn't seem to process the thought. He was lucky we could move his arm, though it took a considerable amount of effort. Just blinking seemed to be draining.

Keith wished he could see the sky. Of all the things he wanted to see as he died, he wanted to see the sky. Down here, in a small pocket of rock, the only light came from his helmet. And that was starting to give him a headache.

"Please, find me." Keith begged his helmet. He wanted to say goodbye. He wanted to apologize for everything. Wanted to make sure Red knew she'd be fine and she'd get a new paladin- one that was probably more level headed or a better team player. Keith needed to thank Shiro for never giving up on him, Pidge for accepting him, Hunk for being Hunk, the stupid, sweet, ray of sunshine he was. And Lance. God. Lance would be so pissed at Keith for dying. Or happy. Maybe feel guilty? No matter what, Keith needed to say goodbye to him too.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered into the comms.

Suddenly, faintly, a noise broke through the static from Keith's helmet.

"Ith? Wher-… Live?" Was it Lance? Or Shiro?

Keith honestly couldn't sort his thought out enough to figure it out.

"You o-o-o kay?" The voice came again.

"Help..." Keith wheezed.

For a moment, the static came back and filled Keith's head, but then it disappeared.

"That better?" Another voice prompted. It was faint, and still hard to understand, but Keith could hear them. His team.

He wasn't going to die alone.

"Are you okay? Please answer me!" That sounded like Lance.

"No..."

"Still trying to find you!" Was that Shiro, or Hunk? "Any idea where you are?"

Keith blinked slowly at his helmet. They were still looking for him. Didn't they get it? They had to get away before they got hurt too.

"Buried." Keith could hardly hear his own voice.

"Can you move?"

"...No." Keith coughed again and this time did scream as his chest flared in agony, blood dripping from his lips.

"KEITH! Keith, oh God, oh God we're gonna find you, and then get you in a pod, you're going to be alright, alright?"

Keith hummed in response. He was getting so, _so_ tired. His eyes couldn't stay open, his breathing slowing down.

"Keith, stay awake." Was that Shiro again? That sounded bossy, and Shiro was bossy, so it had to be. "Keep talking to us."

"Can't."

"Yes, yes you can. Stay awake Keith. Keep talking to us, we're going to find you."

Fresh tears pricked Keith's eyes; he didn't think he had enough life in him left to cry.

"You're too late." He whispered.

"DAMMIT, NO WE AREN'T!" Lance yelled a lot. That was probably Lance. "Listen Mullet-" Definitely Lance. "You're gonna make it through this."

"I didn't want to die alone."

For a moment there was silence, and Keith thought for a moment he had imagined his friends talking to him.

"You're not going to die." Someone finally answered. Pidge maybe? But Pidge didn't cry. This person was crying. But it sounded like Pidge.

"I'm not alone." Keith couldn't keep talking. His vision was tunneling, and he honestly couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. He couldn't even tell if he was actually talking or not. "You're with me. I'm not alone."

"No," That was Hunk. No one else cried like Hunk. "No, you were never alone. And you aren't going to die. You're going to be okay!"

"I am okay," Keith took a shuddering breath, noticing how there wasn't pain in his ribs anymore. "It's our job right?"

"Our job isn't to die!" Lance sobbed.

"Heroes… Heroes weren't meant to…" Keith's eyes closed. Everything went numb and black surrounded him. "Survive."

His friends might have heard him, they might've not. But Keith heard them. He heard their voices blend together into cries, and their cries blending into a song, lulling him to sleep.

He listened to their song as he sank into a beautiful numbness. He listened to their song as a darkness like nothing he'd ever known before descended upon him, wrapping him up like a blanket. He listened to their song with his heart, knowing he wasn't alone.

Keith listened to the song of his friends until, finally, he heard nothing at all.

 **SO! Did he live, or die? Like I said, you choose. Heck, you could choose to have a rainbow unicorn come save him. ANYWAYS HOPE YOU LIKED IT PLEASE LIKE AND COMMENT IT'D BE PRETTY COOL!**

 **HAVE FUN WITH FINALS**

 **AND BY THAT I MEAN PLEASE DON'T DIE**

 **OK LOVE YOU BYE! (::)**


	2. Together We Heard Him Cry

**BOO! I'M BACK! Ok, so this was supposed to be a one-shot, but a guest suggested writing a second chapter from the teams POV- so I did. Be aware I'm running off like no sleep, so I don't know if it's going to be as good as the first part, but I hope you like it!**

 **ALSO! Still kept the- choose your own ending- part. You choose how it all plays out!**

Lance wasn't crying. He wasn't screaming. He wasn't doing _anything_ , and it worried Shiro. The blue paladin wasn't a quiet kid. Shiro needed him to scream, so yell, or cry, or laugh, or _something._

Lance just stared into the pit.

He's been silent since Shiro dragged him out of the cavern, not understanding why the kid was so frantic to stay.

Hunk was pacing back a forth a few feet away, yelping when he thought he had put his feet down too hard. His hands were running anxiously through his hair and he kept glancing back at the pit like it was going to widen suddenly and devour them.

"Anything yet, Pidge?" He asked for the tenth time in the past ten minutes.

She glared up at Hunk, and Shiro could have sworn her eyes were wet with tears. "If I'd found something, I would have told you!" She snapped.

Hunk nodded, ignoring her harsh tone, and went back to pacing.

Only half an hour had passed. 30 minutes. Yet to Shiro, it felt like 30 years. One of their own was gone. Keith could be hurt… or worse.

It was Shiro's fault; the team hadn't wanted to come to this planet. Allura had even given them the option to stay on the castle since the scans from the planet were so barren. But no, Shiro thought it could be a bonding experience, and there was always the chance at finding anything to help their fight against the Galra.

Now they were here, on a planet that could not be more empty, and a team member, a _family_ member, was in danger.

 _It's my fault._ All Lance could think was that it was his fault. It was his fault all the rocks collapsed, his fault for not seeing the rock coming towards him, his fault for not grabbing Keith and pulling him out of danger.

It was Lance's fault Keith could be dead.

All Lance could hear was the _CRACK_ the boulder had made when it crashed into Keith. It was deafening. If he'd only been a little faster, only been a little more thoughtful.

Hunk turned to Pidge as a string of curse words he didn't even know she knew came out of her mouth.

"What? Is that good? No, those words never mean anything good. Is he dead? Oh God, or is he alive and-"

"His armor is trashed." Pidge huffed. "I can't get any of it to come online."

Shiro crossed his arms. "Maybe you're too far away to-"

"I'M NOT-" She took a deep breath. "I'm not out of range. I don't think it's possible to _be_ out of range."

"Maybe the single receiver is out on his end?" Hunk suggested hopefully. Pidge shook her head. "Okay, but that means his armor could have saved him, right? He could be fine!"

Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose and looked at her computer screen. "Hunk, you don't understand. This armor isn't built like that- it's strong, sure, but it's built for alien tech, not rock falls."

"What about his helmet? It has its own set of networking and stuff right?"

"Don't you think I tried that? I can't tell if it's online or not, all I get is static."

Shiro perked up. "Static? Like the sound?"

"Yeah."

"That could mean his comms are still holding on. If we could talk to him we could find out where he is."

Lance turned around abruptly. "We don't have time for that! For all we know, Keith is dead- if we wait for him to talk to us we could be waiting forever!"

"He was a point, Shiro." Hunk said after a moment.

"We have to take our lions down there!" Lance declared, sounding to start a bit hysteric. "They can dig him out, right? Red is probably already trying to break out of the hanger, she'll do anything to save Keith!"

"Lance-"

"We don't even need to take all of them! Maybe just Red!"

"Lance-"

"Although she might try to kill us if she sees us and figures out what happened. But we could take Black! Or Blue! No, wait, Blue should calm Red down. But Yellow-"

"Buttercup..." Hunk corrected.

"She can dig! Yellow- Buttercup, whatever- she could find Keith!"

"LANCE!" Shiro grabbed the boy and shook him slightly. "Lance, calm down. You know we can't do that. Bringing a lion down here is too dangerous- the planet couldn't support Blacks weight. If we brought another one down with the intention of digging, we could cause another collapse."

"THEN WHAT DO WE DO?" Lance yelled, pulling himself out of Shiro's grip. "Sit around and hope a dead man will talk? Nu-uh, I don't think so. We need to be down there!"

"Lance, you have to know it's dangerous to do that. If we knew where Keith was then maybe-

"We _do_ know where he is!" Lance argued. "He's down there! He could be calling out for us right now, and we wouldn't know it because we're up here."

Shiro took a deep breath to steady himself. "Lance," He started slowly. "I know you want to find Keith- we all do. But a lot of ground was caved in- that pit is at least half a mile wide. That's a lot of ground to cover to try and find Keith- we need a way to narrow it down."

Shiro had never seen Lance's eyes so cold. The blue paladin glared up at Shiro before turned away and stalking towards the pit.

"If we don't start, we'll never find him. Stay up here if you want, but I'm going down." With that, Lance ignited his jet pack and began and jagged decent into the pit.

Hunk glanced at Shiro before going to the pit as well. "I just… Sorry Shiro."

Pidge sighed and shoved her equipment into her backpack.

"Don't tell me you're going down too." Shiro looked at her. "We need a plan!"

Pidge lifted a shoulder. "This is a plan- sorta. We need to find him. I can't loose a brother again."

Shiro looked at her, and for the first time ever, Shiro didn't see the strong, brave, green paladin or Voltron, Pidge. Instead, he saw Matt Holt's kid sister, Katie. He saw the little girl he had seen in the pictures that Matt had constantly showed off (Though he wouldn't admit it). But then she turned her back and began her decent into the pit, and she was back to being Pidge.

Shiro didn't think twice. He ran after his team.

(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

"KEITH!" Lance was loosing his voice. The team had been searching for hours, digging through ruble in the hopes of finding their teammate. Pidge was sitting a ways away, trying to get a comms connection through to Keith's helmet. Hunk had started crying.

"What if we don't find him? What if he isn't answering because-"

"Shut up Hunk." Lance cleared his throat before shouting Keith's name again.

Lance was going to be sick. Down in the cavern, rocks and boulders and dirt had created mini mountains of debris. He didn't see an end to them- though to be fair to was pretty dark down there. Still, everywhere he looked he saw the aftermath of the fall, and all he could think was, _this is my fault._

"GUYS!" Shiro shouted, a few debris mountains away. "I FOUND SOMETHING!"

Lance was at Shiro's side before he could blink. Shiro had found Keith's bayard- crushed to hell.

Hunk couldn't stop staring at it. It was bent, and dented, and didn't even look white anymore. Most concerningly of all, however, was the blood stain.

Lance said nothing as he dove into the closest pile, tearing through the rubble. "KEITH!" He shouted. "Keith! Are you in here? Keith? KEITH ANSWER ME!"

The mountain shuddered and Shiro pulled Lance out of the way as it toppled over, sending dirt into the air.

"You have to be more careful!" He snapped.

Lance looked at Shiro with big eyes, and suddenly broke down crying.

"It's my fault," He whimpered. "If I hadn't- then the fall wouldn't have happened and Keith-"

Hunk stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Lance. "It's okay, it's going to be okay." he soothed.

Pidge moved closer to the group, sitting next to Shiro as the two boys cried together.

"How are we gonna find him?" She asked no one in particular.

"I don't know." Shiro admitted. "But we will."

Suddenly, a small sound cut through the air. Everyone froze, holding their breath and looking at each other, trying to confirm that they had all heard it.

"I'm sorry..." It was so faint, like a whisper in the wind. But there it was, the sign they had all needed.

"KEITH!" Lance screamed into his comms unit. "Where are you? Are you alive?" Silence. "Answer me!" Lance begged. "Are you okay?"

"Help..." The small voice- _Keith's voice_ wheezed.

"Oh my God," Hunk looked at his team. "Oh my God."

"I can barely hear him!" Lance turned to Pidge.

"On it! He sent the first message so if I do this, then-" The static from the line cleared. "Is that better?"

No answer.

Lance looked panicked. "Are you okay? Please answer me!"

Keith groaned out a weak, "No...".

Everyone was moving; Pidge couldn't tell exactly where Keith's transmissions were coming from, she could tell they were close.

"Still trying to find you!" Shiro panted, choosing a random pile of rock to dig through. "Any idea where you are?"

"Buried." Keith sounded day dreamy, which wasn't a good sign.

"Can you move?" Shiro needed to keep Keith talking.

"No." The cough and scream that followed the statement sent a chill through Shiro.

Hunk was shaking. "KEITH! Keith, oh God, oh God we're gonna find you, and then get you in a pod, you're going to be alright, alright?"

The line had gone silent again. The team shared looks and began to dig through the debris faster.

"Keith, stay awake." Shiro demanded. "Keep talking to us."

"Can't..."

Shiro's heart skipped a beat. "Yes, yes you can. Stay awake Keith. Keep talking to us, we're going to find you."

The team was silent as they dug, praying that Keith would talk to them again. It was a full 30 seconds before he did. "You're too late."

Lance slammed his fist into the ground, tears running down his cheeks. "DAMMIT, NO WE AREN'T!" Keith wasn't supposed to sound like that, Keith wasn't supposed to sound weak and broken and…

And dying.

"Listen Mullet, you're gonna make it through this."

"I didn't want to die alone." Keith replied dreamily.

Everyone froze, unable to speak or move.

"You're not going to die." Pidge's voice cracked, and she realized she was crying. She hadn't cried since she learned the Kerberos mission had been lost.

"I'm not alone," Keith's voice was so weak, it was hard to hear him. "You're with me. I'm not alone."

Hunk sobbed. "No! No, you were never alone. And you aren't going to die. You're going to be okay!"

With a shuddering breath, the team heard, "I am okay. It's our job, right?"

Lance's breath hitched. "It isn't out job to die!"

No one was digging anymore. They couldn't. It was all they could do to strain enough to hear Keith. And, thought nobody would admit it, no one wanted to miss what could be his last words.

"Heroes..." Keith's voice was fading. "Heroes weren't meant to..." His voice trailed off.

Shiro went cold, sitting down hard.

"Weren't mean to what?" Lance looked up at his friends for help. "What weren't heroes meant to do Keith?"

There wasn't even static anymore.

"Keith?" Lance's heart stopped. "Keith? KEITH!"

"Answer me!" Hunk shouted into his comms as Lance launched himself into the nearest pile of debris.

Pidge was yelling too, until she saw Shiro, silent and gray on the ground. As she watched the hope drain from Shiro's eyes, she understood what Keith was going to say. She too, sank to the ground, watching in numb confusion as Hunk wept and Lance dug furiously.

"What were you going to say?" Hunk still babbled into the dead line. "Keith, finish what you were going to say, _please_. Please Keith, answer me."

"Survive." Shiro swallowed heavily. "Heroes weren't meant to survive."

 **So I mean, I personally know how I ended things. Wanna take a guess? HOPE YOU LIKED IT AND HOPE YOU SURVIVE FINALS! BYE! (::)**


	3. Honor The Fallen

So many people wanted an 'ending'- so I wrote one! Check out my version of the official ending in my new fic 'Honor The Fallen' :) Thank you so much for your support and comments, you guys inspire me so much!

~Piper (::)


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